Cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus with which it is possible to use tape cassettes of a plurality of different sizes wherein the overall space in the cassette insertion direction occupied by a cassette discriminating member and a cassette insertion guide for ensuring correct insertion of small cassettes is made small so that a cassette stage for carrying cassettes from the vicinity of a front panel to a loading position inside the apparatus where recording and reproducing of information are carried out can be brought amply close to the front panel and the front-rear direction depth of the cassette stage can be made long to enable cassettes to be held firmly and stably on the cassette stage and the tape cassettes are pressed in optimum positions near their reel centers onto the cassette stage with a stronger force during loading than during ejecting so that slipping of the tape cassettes on the cassette stage during loading is prevented and during ejecting the tape cassettes can be smoothly and certainly ejected and small tape cassettes are ejected through a greater distance than large tape cassettes so that both large and small tape cassettes project outside the front panel by a suitable distance after they are ejected.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/772,402, filedDec. 23, 1996 U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,565.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a cassette type recording and reproducingapparatus such as a video cassette recorder for carrying out recordingand reproducing of information using a tape cassette.

2. Description of the Related Art

There have been cassette type recording and reproducing apparatuses suchas video tape recorders with which it is possible to selectively use twokinds of tape cassette 1, 2 whose front-rear depths D₁, D₂ andthicknesses H₁, H₂ differ as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In this kind ofcassette type recording and reproducing apparatus, a cassette stage 6,which is cassette carrying means, is disposed on the inner side of ahorizontally long cassette insertion opening 4 formed in a front panel 3and reciprocates in the arrow a, b and a', b' directions along asubstantially L-shaped locus of movement between a cassette insertionposition P₁, a cassette pulling in position P₂ behind that and acassette loading position P₃ below that.

Cassette discriminating blocks 9 for discriminating the type (large orsmall) of a tape cassette 1 or 2 and cassette insertion guide blocks 10changed over by these cassette discriminating blocks 9 are arranged inseries in the arrow a direction, which is a cassette insertiondirection, on the inner side of the cassette insertion opening 4.

Also, a cassette pressing roller 7, which is cassette pressing means forpressing the cassette 1 or 2 onto a bottom plate 6a of the cassettestage 6, is mounted on the cassette stage 6.

A cassette ejecting lever 8, which is cassette ejecting means forejecting the cassette 1 or 2 through the cassette insertion opening 4,is also mounted on the cassette stage 6.

A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus of the related arthaving the kind of construction described above operates in thefollowing way.

At times of cassette loading, a tape cassette 1 or 2 is inserted throughthe cassette insertion opening 4 into the cassette stage 6 in the arrowa direction so that it pushes open an opening and closing cover 5. Whenthe tape cassette 1 or 2 is inserted, first, the cassette discriminatingblocks 9 discriminate the type (size) of the tape cassette 1, 2 andchange over the cassette insertion guide blocks 10. That is, when alarge tape cassette 2 is inserted, the cassette discriminating blocks 9remove the cassette insertion guide blocks 10 in the cassette insertiondirection, and when a small tape cassette 1 is inserted, the cassetteinsertion guide blocks 10 guide this small tape cassette 1 to a centralposition in the left-right direction of the cassette stage 6 and preventthe small tape cassette 1 from being mis-inserted to an off-centerposition to the right or the left of the center of the cassette stage 6.

Then, the tape cassette 1 or 2 inserted into the cassette stage 6horizontally is pressed onto the bottom plate 6a by the cassettepressing roller 7 constituting cassette pressing means.

After that, by a cassette loading mechanism (not shown) the cassettestage 6 is pulled in from the cassette insertion position P₁ to thecassette pulling in position P₂ in the arrow a direction horizontallyand then lowered from the cassette pulling in position P₂ to thecassette loading position P₃ in the arrow b direction vertically, andthe tape cassette 1 or 2 is thereby loaded into the cassette loadingposition P₃. At this time, a front cover 1A, 2A fitted to the front end1a, 2a of the tape cassette 1, 2 is opened upward in the arrow b'direction.

At this time, the tape cassette 1 or 2 is positioned by being fittedonto positioning pins (not shown) in the cassette loading position P₃,the cassette stage 6 is moved to a position slightly below the cassetteloading position P₃ and a gap G₁ is created between the underside of thetape cassette 1, 2 and the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, butthe tape cassette 1, 2 is stably loaded because it is strongly pressedupon by the cassette pressing roller 7 in the arrow b direction into thecassette loading position P₃.

After this cassette loading operation, a magnetic tape inside the tapecassette 1, 2 is pulled out of the cassette and loaded onto a rotatinghead drum (not shown) by a tape loading mechanism (not shown), andrecording and/or reproducing of information are carried out.

When the tape cassette 1 or 2 is ejected after recording and reproducinghave been finished, by an operation opposite to that of the cassetteloading operation described above, the cassette stage 6 is raised fromthe cassette loading position P₃ to the cassette pulling in position P₂in the arrow b' direction vertically and then moved to the cassetteinsertion position P₁ in the arrow a' direction horizontally and thetape cassette 1, 2 is ejected by the cassette ejecting lever 8, which iscassette ejecting means, through the cassette insertion opening 4 tooutside the front panel 3.

In cassette type recording and reproducing apparatuses wherein when atape cassette 1 or 2 is being loaded the tape cassette 1 or 2 isinserted to such a position that in the case of a small tape cassette 1the rear end 1b of the small tape cassette 1 becomes substantiallyaligned with the front panel 3, as shown in FIG. 1A, at times ofcassette ejection, the small and large tape cassettes 1 and 2 are bothejected from the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a' direction by thecassette ejecting lever 8 through the same fixed distance L₁, as shownin FIG. 1B, so that when the cassette stage 6 has been returned to thecassette insertion position P₁, when the tape cassette is a small tapecassette 1 the rear end 1b of this tape cassette 1 is made to project tooutside the front panel 3 by the fixed distance L₁ in the arrow a'direction and the rear end 1b of the tape cassette 1 can be easilygripped by hand and taken out of the cassette stage 6 to outside thefront panel 3.

However, in a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus of therelated art constructed and operating as described above, there havebeen the following four problems.

The first concerns the cassette discriminating blocks 9 and the cassetteinsertion blocks 10.

That is, the cassette insertion distance through which a cassette mustbe inserted to make the cassette discriminating blocks 9 function isvery long, and the space S₁₁ in the cassette insertion direction (thearrow a direction) occupied by the cassette discriminating blocks 9 hasbeen very large. Furthermore, because the cassette discriminating blocks9 and the cassette insertion guide blocks 10 have been arranged inseries, the overall space S₁₂ occupied by the these two blocks has beenvery large. Because the cassette stage 6 is positioned further back (inthe arrow a direction) than the cassette insertion guide blocks 10, whenthis occupied space S₁₂ becomes large the depth (the length in the arrowa direction) D₁₁ of the cassette stage 6 becomes short. Since the depthD₁₁ of the cassette stage 6 greatly influences the holding force withwhich the tape cassette 1, 2 is held, when this depth D₁₁ is short thisholding force on the tape cassette 1, 2 is weak at times of loading andcassette loading errors such as the tape cassette coming off thecassette stage 6 part-way through loading have readily occurred.

The second problem concerns the cassette ejection stroke of the cassetteejecting lever 8, which is cassette ejecting means.

That is, cassette ejecting means such as cassette ejecting levers of therelated art have not had any function whatsoever discriminating thefront-rear depths D₁, D₂ or the thicknesses H₁, H₂ of the tape cassettes1, 2, and at times of cassette ejecting have ejected the tape cassettes1, 2 from the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a' direction through thesame fixed distance L₁ irrespective of the front-rear depth andthickness of the tape cassette 1, 2, as shown in FIG. 1B. Consequently,as shown in FIG. 1B, the distance L₄ by which the rear end 2b of thelarge tape cassette 2 projects outside the front panel 3 has been muchgreater than the distance L₁ by which the small tape cassette 1 projectsoutside the front panel 3.

With this kind of construction, when a large tape cassette 2 is ejected,there has been a risk of the rear end 2b projecting a long way outsidethe front panel 3 striking and injuring the hand or body of a user or ofthe cassette loading mechanism breaking under loads acting at this timeor of the tape cassette falling out of the cassette insertion opening 4.

The third problem concerns the cassette pressing force exerted by thecassette pressing means (in the example described above, the cassettepressing roller 7).

That is, with cassette pressing means of a related art construction,during cassette loading, as shown in FIG. 1C, it has sometimes happenedthat the cassette pressing force of the cassette pressing roller 7 orthe like is too weak and consequently when the cassette stage 6 ispulled in the arrow a direction from the cassette insertion position P₁to the cassette pulling in position P₂ the tape cassette 1 slips on thecassette stage 6 due to inertial force, resulting in a position errorL₂. With this kind of construction, mis-loading errors wherein the tapecassette 1 cannot be correctly loaded when the cassette stage 6 islowered to the cassette loading position P₃ have tended to occur.

There have also been problems such as that at times of cassette ejectingthe cassette pressing force of the cassette pressing roller 7 is toostrong and consequently the distance L₃ through which the tape cassette1 is ejected by the cassette ejecting lever 8 or the like isinsufficient and it is difficult to take the tape cassette 1 out fromthe front panel 3.

In other words, with cassette pressing means of constructions of therelated art, because the cassette pressing force on the tape cassette 1or 2 has been substantially the same during cassette loading and duringcassette ejecting, the kinds of problem described above have occurred.

The fourth problem has concerned the disposition of the cassettepressing means (for example the cassette pressing roller 7).

That is, as shown in FIG. 1A, the cassette pressing roller 7 has beendisposed in a limited space where so that it does not interfere with theinwardly opening type opening and closing cover 5 when the cassettestage 6 has been returned to the cassette insertion position P₁ it is onthe front side of a space S₁ through which that opening and closingcover 5 moves and also so that it does not interfere either with a frontcover 1A or 2A of the tape cassette it is on the rear side (the arrow a'direction side) of a space S₃ through which the front cover 1A or 2Amoves.

However, with this kind of construction, the cassette pressing roller 7is disposed greatly displaced to the front side of reel centers P₁₁,P₁₂, which respectively are the front-rear direction positions of thecenters of gravity of the tape cassettes 1 and 2, and when the cassettepressing roller 7 presses the tape cassette 1 or 2 in the arrow bdirection in the cassette loading position P₃ this pressing state isunstable and the travel of the magnetic tape is consequently unstableand this causes recording and reproducing errors.

Although there have been cassette type recording and reproducingapparatuses of this kind in the related art wherein when the tapecassette 1 or 2 is being pulled into the cassette stage the cassettepressing roller 7 is driven by a motor and the tape cassette is therebyforcibly pulled in through the cassette insertion opening 4, with thiskind of construction there has been the problem that the mechanism ismarkedly more complicated and consequently the cost of the apparatusincreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made to solve these four problems and otherproblems, and a first object of the invention is to provide a cassettetype recording and reproducing apparatus wherein the overall space inthe cassette insertion direction occupied by a cassette discriminatingmember and a cassette insertion guide can be made small so that thecassette stage can be brought amply close to the front panel and thefront-rear depth of the cassette stage can be made amply long.

A second object of the invention is to provide a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus wherein the distance through which a smalltape cassette is ejected can be made large and the distance throughwhich a large tape cassette is ejected can be made small.

A third object of the invention is to provide a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus wherein slipping of the tape cassette on thecassette stage during loading of the tape cassette is prevented andduring ejecting the tape cassette can be smoothly and certainly ejectedthrough a fixed distance.

A fourth object of the invention is to provide a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus which can press selectively on tape cassettesof a plurality of types in positions in the vicinities of their reelcenters without using a complicated mechanism for pulling the tapecassette into the cassette stage forcibly.

To achieve the above-mentioned objects and other objects, a first aspectof the invention provides a cassette type recording and reproducingapparatus comprising tape cassettes of a plurality of types whose sizesdiffer, a front panel provided with a cassette insertion opening, acassette stage reciprocated between a cassette insertion position wherethe tape cassettes of a plurality of types are selectively inserted intothe cassette stage through the cassette insertion opening and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on thetape cassettes, a pivoting cassette insertion guide disposed in aposition in the vicinity of an inner side of the cassette insertionopening for determining an insertion position to which a small tapecassette is inserted into the cassette stage, and a pivoting cassettediscriminating member disposed on the inner side of the cassetteinsertion opening on a cassette ejection direction side of the cassetteinsertion guide and caused by a large tape cassette to pivot in acassette insertion direction and remove the cassette insertion guide tooutside a cassette insertion space, wherein an operating stroke throughwhich the cassette discriminating member moves to remove the cassetteinsertion guide to outside the cassette insertion space is small and thecassette discriminating member and the cassette insertion guide arearranged overlapping in the cassette insertion and ejection directions.

A second aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to this first aspect of the inventionfurther comprising first urging means for urging the cassette insertionguide to pivot in a direction removing it from inside the cassetteinsertion space to outside the cassette insertion space, and secondurging means for urging the cassette discriminating member to pivot inthe cassette ejection direction, wherein when the cassettediscriminating member is caused by a large tape cassette to pivot in thecassette insertion direction against resistance of the second urgingmeans the cassette insertion guide is removed to outside the cassetteinsertion space by the first urging means.

A third aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to the first aspect of the inventionwherein the cassette insertion guide is disposed oriented in a directionperpendicular to the cassette insertion direction, small tape cassetteinsertion guide surfaces are formed on the cassette insertion guide onboth sides of a central part thereof, cassette stopper surfaces forpreventing mis-insertion of a small tape cassette are formed on thecassette insertion guide on outer sides of the small tape cassetteinsertion guide surfaces, and a cassette discriminating member isdisposed at each end of the cassette insertion opening.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to the first aspect of the inventionwherein a cassette discriminating part of the cassette discriminatingmember is inserted into the cassette insertion opening.

A fifth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus comprising tape cassettes of a plurality of typeswhose sizes and thicknesses differ, a cassette stage reciprocatedbetween a cassette insertion position where the tape cassettes of aplurality of types are selectively inserted into the cassette stage anda cassette loading position where recording and reproducing are carriedout on the tape cassettes, a cassette ejecting mechanism mounted on thecassette stage for when the cassette stage is ejected from the cassetteloading position to the cassette insertion position ejecting the tapecassettes from the cassette stage in a cassette ejection direction, andejection stroke switching means for using a difference in thethicknesses of the tape cassettes of a plurality of types so switchingan ejection stroke through which the tape cassettes are ejected from thecassette stage by the cassette ejecting mechanism that a small tapecassette is ejected through a large ejection stroke and a large tapecassette is ejected through a small ejection stroke.

A sixth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus comprising tape cassettes of a plurality of typeswhose sizes and thicknesses differ, a cassette stage reciprocatedbetween a cassette insertion position where the tape cassettes of aplurality of types are selectively inserted into the cassette stage anda cassette loading position where recording and reproducing are carriedout on the tape cassettes, a slide member mounted in a fixed position, afollowing lever attached to the cassette stage an amount of overlap withrespect to the slide member of which following lever is changed incorrespondence with a difference in the thicknesses of the tapecassettes of a plurality of types, and a cassette ejecting leverattached to the cassette stage and driven by the following lever topivot and eject the tape cassette from the cassette stage in a cassetteejection direction, wherein when the cassette stage is ejected from thecassette loading position to the cassette insertion position thefollowing lever is caused to pivot by the slide member and the cassetteejecting lever ejects the tape cassette from the cassette stage in thecassette ejection direction and when the tape cassette is ejected fromthe cassette stage an amount by which the cassette ejecting lever isdriven by the following lever is so changed in correspondence with theamount of overlap that a small tape cassette is ejected through a largeejection stroke and a large tape cassette is ejected through a smallejection stroke.

A seventh aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to the this sixth aspect of theinvention wherein the slide member is a cam of which a face makingcontact with the following lever has a sloping surface sloping downwardin a cassette insertion direction.

An eighth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the inventionwherein the slide member is a roller having a circumferential facemaking contact with the following lever.

A ninth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus comprising a front panel provided with a cassetteinsertion opening, a cassette stage reciprocated between a cassetteinsertion position where a tape cassette is inserted into the cassettestage through the cassette insertion opening and a cassette loadingposition where recording and reproducing are carried out on the tapecassette, cassette pressing means mounted on the cassette stage forpressing the tape cassette, a cassette ejecting mechanism mounted on thecassette stage for when the cassette stage is ejected from the cassetteloading position to the cassette insertion position ejecting the tapecassette from the cassette stage in a cassette ejection direction, andpressing force changing means for increasing a cassette pressing forceexerted by the cassette pressing means when the cassette stage is loadedfrom the cassette insertion position to the cassette loading positionand decreasing the cassette pressing force exerted by the cassettepressing means when the cassette stage is ejected from the cassetteloading position to the cassette insertion position.

A tenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to this ninth aspect of the inventionwherein the cassette pressing means comprises a cassette pressing leverpivotally attached to the cassette stage, the cassette ejectingmechanism comprises a slide member mounted in a fixed position, afollowing lever pivotally attached to the cassette pressing lever andrelatively driven to pivot by the slide member, and a cassette ejectinglever pivotally attached to the cassette stage and driven to pivot bythe following lever, and the pressing force changing means comprises thefollowing lever and a sloping surface formed on the slide member.

An eleventh aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus according to the ninth aspect of the inventionfurther comprising a cassette ejection stopper mounted on the cassettestage for stopping the cassette ejecting lever in a fixed position inthe cassette ejection direction.

A twelfth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to this tenth aspect of the inventionwherein the slide member is a cam of which a face making contact withthe following lever having a sloping surface sloping downward in acassette insertion direction.

A thirteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus according to the tenth aspect of the inventionwherein the slide member is a roller having a circumferential facemaking contact with the following lever.

A fourteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus comprising a front panel provided with acassette insertion opening, a cassette stage reciprocated between acassette insertion position where a tape cassette is inserted into thecassette stage through the cassette insertion opening and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on thetape cassette, an opening and closing cover attached to the cassettestage and closing the cassette insertion opening from an inner sidethereof when the cassette stage is in the cassette insertion positionand opened by the tape cassette as the tape cassette is inserted intothe cassette stage through the cassette insertion opening, urging meansfor urging the opening and closing cover to pivot closed, and a cassettepressing part provided on the opening and closing cover for pressing thetape cassette.

A fifteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus comprising a front panel provided with acassette insertion opening, a cassette stage reciprocated between acassette insertion position where a tape cassette is inserted into thecassette stage through the cassette insertion opening and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on thetape cassette, a cassette pressing lever pivotally attached to thecassette stage, an opening and closing cover of inwardly opening typepivotally attached to the cassette pressing lever and closing thecassette insertion opening from an inner side thereof when the cassettestage is in the cassette insertion position and opened by the tapecassette as the tape cassette is inserted into the cassette stagethrough the cassette insertion opening, urging means for urging thecassette pressing lever to pivot in a cassette pressing direction,urging means for urging the opening and closing cover to close, and acassette pressing part provided on the opening and closing cover forpressing the tape cassette inserted into the cassette stage.

A sixteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus according to this fifteenth aspect of theinvention further comprising a stopper mounted on the cassette stage forlimiting pivoting of the cassette pressing lever in the cassettepressing direction.

A seventeenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus comprising tape cassettes of a plurality oftypes whose sizes differ, a cassette stage reciprocated between acassette insertion position where the tape cassettes of a plurality oftypes are selectively inserted into the cassette stage and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on thetape cassettes, and cassette pressing parts of a plurality of typesattached to the cassette stage for selectively pressing the tapecassettes of a plurality of types selectively inserted into the cassettestage in positions in the vicinities of reel centers thereof.

An eighteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus comprising tape cassettes of a plurality oftypes whose sizes differ, a cassette stage reciprocated between acassette insertion position where the tape cassettes of a plurality oftypes are selectively inserted into the cassette stage and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on thetape cassettes, a pressing member attached to the cassette stage, andcassette pressing parts of a plurality of types provided on the pressingmember for selectively pressing the tape cassettes of a plurality oftypes selectively inserted into the cassette stage in positions in thevicinities of reel centers thereof.

A nineteenth aspect of the invention provides a cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus according to this eighteenth aspect of theinvention further comprising a front panel provided with a cassetteinsertion opening, wherein the pressing member doubles as an opening andclosing cover for opening and closing the cassette insertion openingfrom an inner side thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A through 1D are schematic views illustrating problems associatedwith cassette type recording and reproducing apparatuses of the relatedart;

FIGS. 2A through 2H are schematic views illustrating main features ofthe invention in a preferred embodiment of the invention applied to acassette type recording and reproducing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a partially sectional side view illustrating small tapecassette loading and ejecting operations of a cassette stage of theapparatus;

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional plan view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an opening and closing cover, apressing lever and a cam following lever of the apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cam following lever and an ejectinglever of the apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a partially sectional side view showing a cassette insertionopening in a front panel of the apparatus closed by an opening andclosing cover of the cassette stage;

FIG. 9 is a partially sectional side view showing pressing of a smalltape cassette inserted into the cassette stage;

FIGS. 10A through 10D are partially sectional side views illustrating acassette ejecting operation for ejecting a small tape cassette from theapparatus, FIGS. 10A and 10B showing an example wherein cams are used asslide members and FIGS. 10C and 10D showing an example wherein rollersare used as slide members;

FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B are partially sectional side views illustratinglarge tape cassette loading and ejecting operations of the cassettestage;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B;

FIG. 13 is a partially sectional side view illustrating pressing of alarge tape cassette being inserted into the cassette stage;

FIG. 14 is a partially sectional side view illustrating a cassetteejecting operation of ejecting a large tape cassette from the apparatus;

FIG. 15 is a partially sectional plan view showing cassettediscriminating members and a cassette insertion guide of the apparatus;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a cassette discriminating member,a cassette insertion guide and a lock lever of the apparatus;

FIG. 18 is a partially sectional side view illustrating a small tapecassette mis-insertion prevention operation of the cassette insertionguide;

FIG. 19 is a partially sectional side view illustrating an operation ofdetecting a large tape cassette carried out by the cassettediscriminating members; and

FIG. 20 is a partially sectional side view illustrating lock and lockrelease operations of the cassette discriminating members carried out bylock levers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus which is a preferredembodiment of the invention applied to a video cassette recorder or thelike will now be described with reference to FIG. 2A through FIG. 20.Constituent parts the same as parts shown in FIGS. 1A through 1D havebeen given the same symbols as their counterparts in those figures.

Description of Main Points of Invention

First, main points of the invention will be explained on the basis ofFIGS. 2A through 2H.

A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus of the invention, asshown in FIG. 2A, has a cassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18for discriminating the type (size) of small and large tape cassettes 1,2 and preventing mis-insertion of a small tape cassette 1 into acassette stage 6. This cassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18has pivoting cassette discriminating members 19 and a cassette insertionguide 20, and these are mounted pivotally on horizontal support pins 21,22 respectively. The cassette insertion guide 20 is disposed extendingin a direction perpendicular to a cassette insertion direction (thearrow a direction) in a position in the vicinity of the inner side of acassette insertion opening 4, and a left-right pair of the cassettediscriminating members 19 are disposed in positions at the left andright ends of the cassette insertion guide 20 and between the cassetteinsertion guide 20 and the cassette insertion opening 4. A left-rightpair of cassette discriminating parts 19a positioned at the cassetteejection direction (the arrow a' direction) extremities of the cassettediscriminating members 19 are inserted in the arrow a' direction intothe left and right ends of the cassette insertion opening 4.

By an operating stroke S₂₂ through which the cassette discriminatingmembers 19 move to remove the cassette insertion guide 20 to outside thecassette insertion space being made small and these cassettediscriminating members 19 and the cassette insertion guide 20 beingdisposed with an overlap OV₁ in the cassette insertion and ejectiondirections (the arrow a, a' directions), the space S₁₄ in the cassetteinsertion direction occupied by this cassette mis-insertion preventingmechanism 18 is made small. As a result, when the cassette stage 6 isreturned to the cassette insertion position P₁ it is possible to bringthe cassette stage 6 amply close to the front panel 3 and furthermore itis possible to make the cassette insertion direction (the arrow adirection) depth D₁₂ of a bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 amplylarge.

This cassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18 is constructed sothat when as shown with solid lines in FIG. 2A a large tape cassette 2is horizontally inserted in the arrow a direction into the cassettestage 6 through the cassette insertion opening 4 the left and right endsof the front cover 2A side of that large tape cassette 2 abut with thecassette discriminating parts 19a of the left-right pair of cassettediscriminating members 19 and these cassette discriminating members 19are pivoted in the arrow d direction about the support pins 21 againstthe resistance of urging means which will be further discussed later andthe cassette insertion guide 20 is pivoted and removed in the arrow edirection by other urging means which will be further discussed laterabout the support pins 22 from a position above the bottom plate 6a ofthe cassette stage 6, which is inside the cassette insertion space, to aposition below the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, which isbelow the cassette insertion space. On the other hand, when as shownwith broken lines in FIG. 2A a small tape cassette 1 is horizontallyinserted in the arrow a direction into the cassette stage 6 through thecassette insertion opening 4, that small tape cassette 1 is guided bythe cassette insertion guide 20 to the center of the cassette stage 6and the small tape cassette 1 being mis-inserted to an off-centerposition to the right or the left of the center of the cassette stage 6is prevented by the cassette insertion guide 20.

As shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus of the invention also has a cassette ejectingmechanism 16 for ejecting tape cassettes 1, 2 of two types whosefront-rear depths D₁, D₂ and thicknesses H₁, H₂ differ using the samecassette ejecting levers 8, which are cassette ejecting means, andejection stroke switching means 17 for switching the cassette ejectionstroke of the cassette ejecting levers 8 by utilizing the difference inthe thicknesses H₁, H₂ of these tape cassettes 1, 2.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when a small tape cassette 1 whose thickness H₁ issmall is being ejected, the ejection stroke S₁₁ through which thecassette ejecting levers 8 eject the small tape cassette 1 from thecassette stage 6 in the arrow a' direction is made large, and thedistance L₁ by which the rear end 1b of the small tape cassette 1projects to outside the front panel 3 when at the point in time at whichthe cassette stage 6 returns to the cassette insertion position P₁ theejection is completed is thereby made large so that thereafter the rearend 1b of the tape cassette 1 can be easily gripped by hand and takenout of the apparatus.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2C, when a large tape cassette 2whose thickness H₂ is large is being ejected, the ejection stroke S₁₂through which the cassette ejecting levers 8 eject the large tapecassette 2 from the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a' direction is madesmall, and the distance L₅ by which the rear end 2b of the large tapecassette 2 projects to outside the front panel 3 when at the point intime at which the cassette stage 6 returns to the cassette insertionposition P₁ the ejection is completed is amply small compared to theprojecting distance L₄ of the related art example shown in FIG. 1B sothat this projecting distance L₅ is not excessive.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 2D, 2E and 2F, a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus of the invention has pressing force changing means15 for changing over the cassette pressing force of the cassettepressing mechanism 11 between a strong cassette pressing force F₁ and aweak cassette pressing force F₂.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2D, during cassette loading, when a tapecassette 1 has been inserted horizontally through the cassette insertionopening 4 in the front panel 3 into the cassette stage 6 in the arrow adirection, the tape cassette 1 is strongly pressed onto the bottom plate6a of the cassette stage 6 by the cassette pressing mechanism 11 alreadyset to a strong cassette pressing force F₁. As a result, when thecassette stage 6 is loaded from the cassette insertion position P₁ viathe cassette pulling in position P₂ to the cassette loading position P₃,slipping out of position of the tape cassette 1 on the cassette stage 6is prevented and the tape cassette 1 is correctly and firmly loaded intothe cassette loading position P₃.

As shown in FIG. 2E, during cassette ejecting, in the course of ejectingthe cassette stage 6 from the cassette loading position P₃ via thecassette pulling in position P₂ to the cassette insertion position P₁,the cassette pressing force of the cassette pressing mechanism 11 ischanged over by the pressing force changing means 15 to the weakcassette pressing force F₂, and the tape cassette 1 is smoothly andcertainly ejected from the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a' directionthrough the fixed distance L₁ by the cassette ejecting mechanism 16, andthe rear end 1b of the tape cassette 1 is certainly and stably made toproject to outside the front panel 3 by the fixed distance L₁ when thecassette stage 6 returns to the cassette insertion position P₁.

Also, as shown in FIG. 2F, a cassette type recording and reproducingapparatus of the invention has a cassette pressing mechanism 11utilizing an opening and closing cover and comprising an opening andclosing cover 12, which opens and closes the cassette insertion opening4 in the front panel 3 from the inner side thereof and is pivotallyattached to the cassette stage 6 itself, and cassette pressing parts 13provided on the opening and closing cover 12.

When the tape cassette 1 is inserted horizontally into the cassettestage 6 in the arrow a direction through the cassette insertion opening4, the tape cassette 1 pushes open the opening and closing cover 12 inthe arrow c' direction and by a reaction force exerted in the arrow cdirection by a pressing spring, which will be further discussed later,the cassette pressing parts 13 of the opening and closing cover 12 pressthe tape cassette 1 onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 inan optimum position P₁₁₁ in the vicinity of the reel centers P₁₁ of thetape cassette 1 behind a space S₂ through which the front cover 1A ofthe tape cassette 1 moves.

After this cassette insertion, when the cassette stage 6 is loaded fromthe cassette insertion position P₁ via the cassette pulling in positionP₂ to the cassette loading position P₃ in the arrow a and b directionsand the tape cassette 1 is loaded into the cassette loading position P₃in the arrow b direction, the opening and closing cover 12 movesintegrally with the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a, b directions andthe reel center P₁₁ vicinity position P₁₁₁ of the tape cassette 1 isstrongly pressed in the arrow c direction by the cassette pressing parts13 of the opening and closing cover 12 and the tape cassette 1 isthereby pressed into the cassette loading position P₃ in the arrow cdirection with good stability.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 2G and 2H, the cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus of the invention may have a cassette pressingmechanism 11 of a different type for pressing tape cassettes 1, 2 ofeach of two types whose sizes D₁, D₂ differ, wherein two types ofcassette pressing parts 13, 14 are provided on the cassette stage 6.

When tape cassettes 1, 2 of two types whose sizes differ are selectivelyinserted horizontally into the cassette stage 6 through the cassetteinsertion opening 4 in the arrow a direction, the tape cassettes 1, 2are pressed in the arrow c direction by the two types of cassettepressing parts 13, 14 and pressing springs which will be furtherdiscussed later in optimum positions P₁₁₁, P₁₁₂ in the vicinities of thereel centers P₁₁, P₁₂ behind the space S₂ through which their frontcovers 1A, 2A of the tape cassettes 1, 2 move and these tape cassettes1, 2 are thereby pressed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage6.

After this cassette insertion, when the cassette stage 6 has been loadedfrom the cassette insertion position P₁ via the cassette pulling inposition P₂ to the cassette loading position P₃ in the arrow a and bdirections, the reel center P₁₁, P₁₂ vicinity positions P₁₁₁, P₁₁₂ ofthe respective tape cassettes 1, 2 are pressed in the arrow c directionby the two types of cassette pressing parts 13, 14 and these tapecassettes 1, 2 are pressed into the cassette loading position P₃ in thearrow b direction optimally and with good stability.

Description of Construction of Preferred Embodiment of Invention

Next, on the basis of FIG. 3 through FIG. 20, the construction of apreferred embodiment of the invention will be described.

Description of Two Types of Tape Cassette

As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 9, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B, FIG. 12 and FIG.13, tape cassettes 1, 2 of two types whose sizes (front-rear directiondepth D₁, D₂ and left-right direction width W₁, W₂) and thicknesses H₁,H₂ differ contain magnetic tapes 33 wound on left-right pairs of tapereels 31, 32 whose diameters differ. These magnetic tapes 33 pass alongthe inner sides of front covers 1A, 2A of inner-outer double structureattached to front ends 1a, 2a of these tape cassettes 1, 2 and pivotedto open and close in the arrow f, f' directions.

Therefore, the reel centers P₁₁, P₁₂, which are substantially thepositions in the front-rear direction (the arrow a, a' direction) of thecenters of gravity of these tape cassettes 1, 2, are in positionsdifferent distances L₁₁, L₁₂ from these front ends 1a, 2a incorrespondence with the difference in diameter between these tape reels31, 32.

Description of Cassette Stage

As shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 5, the cassette stage 6 is made of sheetmetal or the like and its cross-sectional shape is an upward-facingapproximate U-shape formed by the horizontal bottom plate 6a and aleft-right pair of side plates 6b extending vertically upward from theleft and right ends of the bottom plate 6a, and a left-right pair ofcassette stoppers 34 for stopping a large tape cassette 2 are integrallyformed with the left and right sides of the rear end (the arrow adirection side end) of the bottom plate 6a. Cassette stoppers (notshown) for a small tape cassette 1 similar to the cassette stopper 34for a large tape cassette 2 are formed integrally with this bottom plate6a.

As explained above with reference to FIGS. 1A through 1D, this cassettestage 6 is reciprocated by a loading mechanism in the arrow a, bdirections and the arrow b', a' directions along a substantiallyL-shaped locus of movement between a cassette insertion position P₁ anda cassette loading position P₃ via a cassette pulling in position P₂.

Description of Cassette Pressing Mechanism

As shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, a cassette pressingmechanism 11 is mounted on the cassette stage 6.

This cassette pressing mechanism 11 has an opening and closing cover 12which opens and closes the cassette insertion opening 4 of the frontpanel 3 from the inner side thereof and a cassette pressing lever 35which supports that opening and closing cover 12 and pivots up and down.

The cassette pressing lever 35 has its cross-sectional shape formed in adownward-facing approximate U-shape by a left-right pair of arm parts35a and a crossbeam part 35b horizontally connecting upper parts ofthese. This cassette pressing lever 35 is mounted by the rear ends ofthese arm parts 35a pivotally in the arrow g, g' direction, which is anup-down direction, on the rear ends of the left-right pair of sideplates 6b of the cassette stage 6 by way of a left-right pair ofhorizontal support pins 36. This cassette pressing lever 35 is urged topivot in the arrow g' direction, which is a cassette pressing direction,by a left-right pair of pressing springs 37 which are rotational urgingmeans consisting of tension coil springs, and is abutted with andstopped by a left-right pair of stoppers 40a formed integrally with theside plates 6b of the cassette stage 6.

The opening and closing cover 12 is molded out of synthetic resin or thelike, and this opening and closing cover 12 has left and right sides ofthe upper end thereof attached pivotally in the arrow c, c' direction,which is a front-right and up-down direction, to the upper sides of thefront ends of the left-right pair of arm parts 35a of the cassettepressing lever 35 by way of a left-right pair of horizontal support pins38. This opening and closing cover 12 is urged to pivot in the arrow c'direction by a left-right pair of opening and closing cover springs 39which are dual-purpose rotational urging means for cover-closing and forcassette-pressing consisting of torsion coil springs, and in a positionshown in FIG. 8 in which it closes the cassette insertion opening 4 thisopening and closing cover 12 is abutted with and stopped by stoppers 40bformed integrally with the left-right pair of arm parts 35a.

Description of Cassette Pressing Part

As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 9 and FIG. 13, the opening and closingcover 12 is constructed as a cassette pressing member, and a left-rightpair of cassette pressing parts 13 for pressing a small tape cassette 1are integrally formed at a spacing slightly smaller than the width W₁ ofthe small tape cassette 1 on the lower side of this opening and closingcover 12 on both sides of part substantially central in the left-rightdirection.

Also, a left-right pair of cassette pressing parts 14 for pressing alarge tape cassette 2 are integrally formed on left and right end partsof this opening and closing cover 12. These cassette pressing parts 14each have their cross-sectional shape formed in an approximate L-shapeand each have an upper-lower pair of projections for cassette pressing14a, 14b.

Thus, a structure wherein a left-right pair of cassette pressing parts13 for a small tape cassette 1 and a left-right pair of cassettepressing parts 14 for a large tape cassette 2 are integrally formed onan opening and closing cover which is one cassette pressing member isprovided.

Description of Cassette Ejecting Mechanism

As shown in FIG. 3 through FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 through FIG. 13, thecassette ejecting mechanism 16 is made up of a left-right pair of slidemembers 41 mounted in fixed positions, and a left-right pair of slidemember following levers 42 and a left-right pair of cassette ejectinglevers 43 attached to the cassette stage 6.

When as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B the left-right pair of slide members41 are cams, cam surfaces 41a are formed on their upper faces, and whenas shown in FIGS. 10C and 10D the slide members 41 are rollers, theserollers are provided with roller surfaces 41a. The description of theslide members 41 given here applies to all slide members 41, in additionto those illustrated in FIGS. 10A through 10D. The left-right pair ofslide members 41 are made of synthetic resin or the like, and theseslide members 41 are disposed on left and right sides of a substantiallycentral position in the horizontal movement path in the arrow a, a'direction between the cassette insertion position P₁ and the cassettepulling in position P₂ of the cassette stage 6 described above withreference to FIGS. 1A through 1D and are fixed to inner sides of aleft-right pair of chassis side plates 44.

The left-right pair of slide member following levers 42 are made ofsynthetic resin or the like, and these slide member following levers 42are mounted by way of a left-right pair of horizontal support pins 45pivotally in the arrow h, h' direction, which is a front-rear direction,in substantially central positions in the front-rear direction on theleft-right pair of arm parts 35a of the cassette pressing lever 35mounted on the cassette stage 6. These left-right pair of slide memberfollowing levers 42 hang downward from the support pins 45, and alsothese slide member following levers 42 are urged to pivot in the arrow hdirection by a left-right pair of following lever springs 46 which arerotational urging means consisting of torsion coil springs.

The left-right pair of cassette ejecting levers 43 are formed out ofsheet metal or the like substantially symmetrically, and these cassetteejecting levers 43 are mounted pivotally in the arrow i, i' direction,which is a front-rear direction, by way of vertical support pins 47provided in left and right side positions on the underside of the rearend of the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6. Cassette ejectingprojections 43a extending vertically upward are integrally formed oninner ends of these cassette ejecting levers 42, and projections 42aintegrally formed on the inner sides of the cam following levers 43 abutin the arrow h direction with projections 43b extending verticallyupward from the outer side ends of these cassette ejecting levers 43.

Substantially L-shaped engaging arms 48 extending upward from betweenthe support pins 47 and the cassette ejecting projections 43a of thesecassette ejecting levers 43 are engaged with and moved in the arrow i,i' direction by a left-right pair of guide parts 49 formed on the bottomplate 6a of the cassette stage 6. A left-right pair of cassette ejectionstoppers 50 which when the left-right pair of cassette ejectingprojections 43a abut with them in the arrow i' direction stop theleft-right pair of cassette ejecting levers 43 in an origin position inthe arrow i direction are formed in positions on the inner sides of theguide parts 49 of this bottom plate 6a.

Description of Pressing Force Changing Means

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 10A and 10B, the pressing force changingmeans 15 is made up of the slide member following levers 42 and thefollowing lever springs 46 and sloping surfaces 51 formed on thecassette insertion direction sides (the arrow a direction sides) of thecam surfaces 41a, which are slide surfaces, of the left-right pair ofcams 41, which are slide members. These sloping surfaces 51 are formedupwardly sloping in the cassette ejection direction (the arrow a'direction).

As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, the cassette ejection strokeswitching means 17 switches the ejection stroke of the tape cassettes 1,2 of the cassette ejecting levers 43 by using vertical movement of theslide member following levers 42 in the arrow g, g' direction, which isan up-down direction, accompanying movement of the cassette pressinglever 35 to provide a difference between the amounts of overlap OV₁₁,OV₁₂ of the lower ends of these slide member following levers 42 withthe cam surfaces 41a of the left-right pair of slide members 41.

As shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 20, a cassette mis-insertion preventingmechanism 18 is made up of a left-right pair of pivoting cassettediscriminating members 19 molded out of synthetic resin or the like, acassette insertion guide 20 and a left-right pair of lock levers 23.

A support member 52 disposed in a substantially upward-facing U-shapealong the lower edge and left and right side edges of the cassetteinsertion opening 4 on the inner side of the front panel 3 is fixed tothe front ends of the left-right pair of chassis side plates 44. Thecassette discriminating members 19, the cassette insertion guide 20 andthe lock levers 23 are respectively mounted on this support member 52pivotally in the arrow d, d' direction, the arrow e, e' direction andthe arrow j, j' direction by way of horizontal support pins 21, 22, 24.The cassette discriminating members 19, the cassette insertion guide 20and the lock levers 23 are respectively urged to pivot in the arrow d',e, j' directions by discriminating member springs 53, insertion guidesprings 54 and lock springs 55 which are rotational urging meansconsisting of torsion coil springs.

The left-right pair of cassette discriminating members 19 are disposedat the left and right ends of the cassette insertion opening 4 inpositions adjacent to the inner side of the front panel 3, and cassettediscriminating parts 19a integrally formed on the upper ends of thecassette discriminating members 19 are inserted into the left and rightends of the cassette insertion opening 4. On the inner and outer sidesrespectively of the rear ends of these cassette discriminating members19 are integrally formed horizontal engaging pins 19b, 19c.

The cassette insertion guide 20 is horizontally disposed extending in adirection perpendicular to the cassette insertion direction (the arrow adirection), and this cassette insertion guide 20 has projection parts20a formed at its left and right ends and a concave part 20b formed inits central part. Insertion guide surfaces 56 for guiding a small tapecassette 1 into the central part of the cassette stage 6 are formed oninner side facing surfaces of left and right sides of the concave part20b, and front end faces on the outer sides of the insertion guidesurface 56 form a left-right pair of cassette stopper surfaces 57.

This cassette insertion guide 20 is disposed in a position on thecassette insertion direction side (the arrow a direction side) of thecassette discriminating members 19. As shown in FIG. 18, the left-rightpair of support pins 22 disposed on the cassette insertion directionends of the cassette insertion guide 20 are so disposed that when thecassette stage 6 has been returned to the cassette insertion positionthey are below the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6.

By this cassette insertion guide 20 being driven to pivot about thesupport pins 22 in the arrow e, e' direction, the left-right pair ofprojection parts 20a having the insertion guide surfaces 56 and thecassette stopper surfaces 57 can pass through a left-right pair ofcutaways 58 formed in the left and right ends of the front side of thebottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 and rise and fall in the arrowe, e' direction between a position above the bottom plate 6a, which isin the cassette insertion space, shown in FIG. 18 and a position belowthe bottom plate 6a, which is outside the cassette insertion space,shown in FIG. 19.

A left-right pair of engaging sections 20c are horizontally integrallyformed on the outer sides of the left-right pair of projection parts 20aof the cassette insertion guide 20, and the left-right pair of engagingpins 19b on the inner sides of the cassette discriminating members 19are engaged with the engaging sections 20c from below.

Thus, by the cassette discriminating members 19 and the cassetteinsertion guide 20 being disposed with a large mutual overlap OV₁ in thecassette insertion and ejection direction (the arrow a, a' direction)and, as will be further discussed later, the operating stroke S₂₂through which the cassette discriminating members 19 move to remove thecassette insertion guide 20 to below the cassette insertion space beingmade a small stroke, the space S₂₃ occupied by the cassettemis-insertion preventing mechanism 18 in the cassette insertion andejection direction is made very small.

As a result of this, as shown in FIG. 18, while bringing the cassettestage 6 amply close to the front panel 3 when the cassette stage 6 isreturned to the cassette insertion position P₁ it is also possible tomake the depth D₁₂ in the front-rear direction (the arrow a, a'direction) of the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 large.

By the amount of engagement OV₂ of the engaging pins 19b of the cassettediscriminating members 19 with the engaging sections 20c of the cassetteinsertion guide 20 being set very small, the operating stroke S₂₂ of thecassette discriminating members 19 is set to a small stroke.

The left-right pair of lock levers 23 are disposed on the cassetteinsertion direction side (the arrow a direction side) of the cassettediscriminating members 19, and lock arms 23a which lock the outer sideengaging pins 19c of the cassette discriminating members 19 and camfollowing arms 23b controlled by the cassette stage 6 are integrallyformed with these lock levers 23 in an approximate L-shape.

A left-right pair of horizontal cam arms 59 which control the camfollowing arms 23b are integrally formed on the outer sides of the frontends of the left-right pair of side plates 6b of the cassette stage 6.

Description of Operation of Preferred Embodiment

Next, on the basis of FIG. 2A through FIG. 20, the operation of themechanisms in the preferred embodiment of the invention described abovewill be explained.

Description of Operation of Cassette Mis-insertion Preventing Mechanism

First, on the basis of FIG. 15 through FIG. 20, the operation of thecassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18 will be explained.

First, in an initial state of this cassette mis-insertion preventingmechanism 18, as shown with solid lines in FIG. 20, as a result of thecassette stage 6 having being returned to the cassette insertionposition P₁ in the arrow a' direction, the left-right pair of cam arms59 thereof are mounted up on the cam following arms 23b of theleft-right pair of lock levers 23 in the arrow a direction.

These lock levers 23 have been pivoted about the support pins 24 to alock-released position against the resistance of the lock springs 55 inthe arrow j' direction, and their lock arms 23a have disengaged from theengaging pins 19c of the cassette discriminating members 19 in the arrowj' direction.

As shown in FIG. 18, the left-right pair of cassette discriminatingmembers 19 have been driven to pivot about the support pins 21 by thediscriminating member springs 53 in the arrow d' direction to an initialposition, their cassette discriminating parts 19a have been insertedinto the cassette insertion opening 4 and these cassette discriminatingmembers 19 have abutted with and been stopped by the stoppers (notshown) formed on the support members 52.

The engaging pins 19b of these cassette discriminating members 19 havepushed up the engaging sections 20c of the cassette insertion guide 20in the arrow d' direction, which is upward, and the cassette insertionguide 20 has been pivoted about the support pins 22 against theresistance of the insertion guide springs 54 in the arrow e' direction,which is upward, and the projection parts 20a of this cassette insertionguide 20 have passed through the cutaways 58 in the bottom plate 6a ofthe cassette stage 6 and project to a position above the bottom plate6a.

Thus, in the state wherein the cassette stage 6 has been returned to thecassette insertion position P₁, the insertion guide surfaces 56 andcassette stopper surfaces 57 of the cassette insertion guide 20 projectabove the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6.

From this state, small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 are selectivelyinserted into the cassette stage 6 through the cassette insertionopening 4. As shown in FIG. 15, when a small tape cassette 1 iscorrectly inserted horizontally in the arrow a direction to asubstantially central position inside the cassette stage 6 through thecassette insertion opening 4, the left-right pair of insertion guidesurfaces 56 of the cassette insertion guide 20 guide left and right sidesurfaces 1c of the small tape cassette 1 and the small tape cassette 1is correctly guided to a central position on the bottom plate 6a in thecassette stage 6.

The small tape cassette 1 inserted horizontally to the central positionin the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a direction is stopped by acassette stopper (not shown) when its front end 1a has become alignedwith an insertion reference position P₀ common with a large tapecassette 2.

On the other hand, as shown with broken lines in FIG. 15, when a smalltape cassette 1 is mis-inserted in the arrow a direction to anoff-center position to the right or the left of the center of thecassette insertion opening 4, the front end 1a of that small tapecassette 1 collides with one of the left-right pair of cassette stoppersurfaces 57 of the cassette insertion guide 20.

Therefore, mis-insertion of a small tape cassette 1 to an off-centerposition to the right or the left of the center of the inside of thecassette stage 6 is prevented by the cassette insertion guide 20.

As shown in FIG. 12, when a large tape cassette 2 has been insertedhorizontally into the cassette stage 6 through the cassette insertionopening 4 in the arrow a direction, left and right side surfaces 2c ofthat large tape cassette 2 are guided by the left and right side plates6b of the cassette stage 6. This large tape cassette 2 is inserted inthe arrow a direction as far as a position where its front end 2abecomes aligned with the insertion reference position P₀ common with thesmall tape cassette 1 and is stopped by the left-right pair of cassettestoppers 34.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, just by the large tape cassette 2being inserted extremely slightly into the cassette insertion opening 4in the arrow a direction, the left and right ends of the front surfaceof the front cover 2A of the large tape cassette 2 abut with thecassette discriminating parts 19a of the left-right pair of cassettediscriminating members 19 and push them in the arrow a direction.

When this happens, the cassette discriminating members 19 are pivotedabout the support pins 21 in the arrow d direction against theresistance of the discriminating member springs 53, but when thesecassette discriminating members 19 have been pivoted in the arrow ddirection through the small stroke S₂₂ equivalent to the stroke ofengagement OV₂ of the engaging pins 19b with the engaging sections 20cfrom the original position shown with solid lines in FIG. 18 to thechangeover position shown with broken lines in FIG. 18, the engagingpins 19b of these cassette discriminating members 19 disengage in thearrow a direction from the left-right pair of engaging sections 20c ofthe cassette insertion guide 20, as shown in FIG. 19.

As this happens, the cassette insertion guide 20 is pivoted about thesupport pins 22 by the insertion guide springs 54 in the arrow edirection, and the left-right pair of projection parts 20a of thecassette insertion guide 20 are thereby removed to below the bottomplate 6a of the cassette stage 6.

Thus, as soon as the large tape cassette 2 is inserted into the cassetteinsertion opening 4 in the arrow a direction by an extremely smallamount, the insertion guide surfaces 56 and cassette stopper surfaces 57of the cassette insertion guide 20 are swiftly removed to below thecassette insertion space. The large tape cassette 2 can then continue tobe inserted smoothly in the arrow a direction as far as the insertionreference position P₀ inside the cassette stage 6 without stopping andwithout any hindrance.

As a result of the progress of this continuous insertion of the largetape cassette 2 in the arrow a direction, as shown in FIG. 20, thecassette discriminating parts 19a of the left-right pair of cassettediscriminating members 19 are pushed down to below the lower surface 2dof the large tape cassette 2, and these cassette discriminating members19 are pivoted in the arrow d direction as far as the lock position inwhich they are shown in FIG. 20.

Then, the insertion of the large tape cassette 2 into the cassette stage6 ends and as will be further discussed later the cassette stage 6 isloaded from the cassette insertion position P₁ via the cassette pullingin position P₂ to the cassette loading position P₃, and at the momentthe cassette stage 6 is moved horizontally in the arrow a direction fromthe cassette insertion position P₁ shown with solid lines in FIG. 20toward the cassette pulling in position P₂, the left-right pair ofengaging arms 59 of the cassette stage 6 are disengaged in the arrow adirection from the cam following arms 23b of the left-right pair of locklevers 23.

When this happens, these lock levers 23 are pivoted by the lock springs55 in the arrow j direction about the support pins 24 from thelock-released position shown with solid lines in FIG. 20 to the lockposition shown with broken lines in FIG. 20, and their lock arms 23amove to above the engaging pins 19c of the left-right pair of cassettediscriminating members 19 and thereafter the cassette discriminatingmembers 19 are locked in the position of FIG. 20 by these lock arms 23a.

Then, as will be discussed later, when after recording and/orreproducing is carried out on the tape cassette 1 or 2 the cassettestage 6 is returned in the arrow a' direction from the cassette loadingposition P₃ via the cassette pulling in position P₂ to the cassetteinsertion position P₁ shown in FIG. 20, as described above, theleft-right pair of engaging cams 59 mount up on the cam following arms23b of the left-right pair of lock levers 23 and these lock levers 23are pivoted in the arrow j' direction against the resistance of the locksprings 55 to the lock-released position shown with solid lines in FIG.20. When this happens, the lock arms 23a of the lock levers 23 disengagefrom the engaging pins 19c of the left-right pair of cassettediscriminating members 19 in the arrow j direction and the locking ofthese cassette discriminating members 19 is released.

Then, after the return of this cassette stage 6 to the cassetteinsertion position P₁, when the large tape cassette 2 is taken out frominside the cassette stage 6 to outside the front panel 3 in the arrow a'direction, as shown with solid lines in FIG. 18, the left-right pair ofcassette discriminating members 19 are pivoted by the discriminatingmember springs 53 to their original position in the arrow d' direction,and by the engaging pins 19b the cassette insertion guide 20 is pushedup in the arrow e' direction against the resistance of the insertionguide springs 54 and the cassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18is returned to its initial position.

Description of Operation of Cassette Pressing Mechanism

Next, on the basis of FIG. 3 through FIG. 14, the operation of thecassette pressing mechanism 11 will be explained.

First, before the start of cassette loading, as shown in FIG. 8, theopening and closing cover 12 has been urged to pivot in the arrow c'direction about the support pins 38 by the opening and closing coversprings 39 to its closed position, and the cassette insertion opening 4of the front panel 3 is closed from the inside by this opening andclosing cover 12.

Then, during cassette loading, as shown with solid lines in FIG. 9 andFIG. 13, when small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 are selectively passedthrough the cassette insertion opening 4 from their front ends 1a, 2aand horizontally inserted into the cassette stage 6 in the arrow adirection, the opening and closing cover 12 is pushed in the arrow adirection by the front ends 1a, 2a of these small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 and pivots open about the support pins 38 in the arrow cdirection against the resistance of the opening and closing coversprings 39.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 12, these small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 are inserted horizontally in the arrow a direction as faras the insertion reference position P₀ inside the cassette stage 6 andstopped by the cassette stoppers. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, asmall tape cassette 1 is guided by the cassette insertion guide 20 ofthe cassette mis-insertion preventing mechanism 18 described above to acentral position in the cassette stage 6 and a large tape cassette 2 isinserted between the left and right side plates 6b of the cassette stage6.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when a small tape cassette 1 has been insertedhorizontally in the arrow a direction into the cassette stage 6, theleft-right pair of cassette pressing parts 13 for a small tape cassette1 of the opening and closing cover 12 pushed open in the arrow cdirection make contact with the upper surface 1e of the small tapecassette 1 and these cassette pressing parts 13 make contact with theunderside of the crossbeam part 35b of the cassette pressing lever 35and push this cassette pressing lever 35 up so as to pivot it about thesupport pins 36 against the resistance of the cassette pressing springs37 through a small angle in the arrow g direction.

Then, the reaction force in the arrow g' direction of the cassettepressing lever 35 exerted by the cassette pressing springs 37 acts as acassette pressing force, and the bottom surface 1d of the small tapecassette 1 is pressed and held horizontal on the bottom plate 6a of thecassette stage 6 by the cassette pressing parts 13.

Furthermore, at this time, the cassette pressing parts 13 press aposition P₁₁₁ in the vicinity of the reel center position P₁₁ of thesmall tape cassette 1 and the small tape cassette 1 is therefore heldinside the cassette stage 6 with extremely good stability.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, when a large tape cassette 2 hasbeen inserted horizontally in the arrow a direction into the cassettestage 6, the left-right pair of cassette pressing parts 13 for a smalltape cassette 1 do not make contact with the large tape cassette 2 andthe two pairs of projections for cassette pressing 14a, 14b of theleft-right pair of cassette pressing parts 14 for a large tape cassette2 of the opening and closing cover 12 pushed open in the arrow cdirection are brought into contact with the upper surface 2e of thelarge tape cassette 2.

At this time, the left-right pair of cassette pressing parts 13 for asmall tape cassette 1 do not make contact with the underside of thecrossbeam part 35b of the cassette pressing lever 35, and while theopening and closing cover 12 pivots in the arrow c direction, by theleft-right pair of support pins 38 thereof the cassette pressing lever35 is pushed up in the arrow g direction and pivots through a largeangle in the arrow g direction about the support pins 36 against theresistance of the cassette pressing springs 37.

Therefore, at this time, the cassette pressing force due to the reactionforce in the arrow g' direction of the cassette pressing lever 35exerted by the cassette pressing springs 37 becomes larger incorrespondence with the greater weight of the large tape cassette 2, andby the cassette pressing parts 14 the bottom surface 2d of the largetape cassette 2 is strongly pressed and held horizontal on the bottomplate 6a of the cassette stage 6.

At this time, the total of four projections for cassette pressing 14a,14b of the left-right pair of cassette pressing parts 14 strongly pressa position P₁₁₂ in the vicinity of the reel center position P₁₂ of thelarge tape cassette 2, and the large tape cassette 2 is therefore heldinside the cassette stage 6 with extremely good stability.

As a result of the left-right pairs of cassette pressing parts 13, 14thus being integrally formed with the opening and closing cover 12,which is a single cassette pressing member, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.13, pressable spaces S₁₆, S₁₇ of the small and large tape cassettes 1, 2pressable by the left-right pairs of cassette pressing parts 13, 14 canbe made wide spaces extending to the front panel 3 on the cassetteejection direction (the arrow a' direction) side of the space S₂ forallowing opening and closing of their front covers 1A, 2A.

After completion of the selective insertion of the small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 into the cassette stage 6, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 11Aand FIG. 11B, the cassette stage 6 is loaded in the arrow a, bdirections from the cassette insertion position P₁ shown with solidlines to the cassette loading position P₃ shown with broken lines viathe cassette pulling in position P₂, and these small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 are loaded horizontally to the cassette loading positionP₃ in the arrow b direction.

When this happens, as shown with broken lines in FIG. 3, FIG. 11A andFIG. 11B, whereas the small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 are loadedonto positioning pins (not shown) in the cassette loading position P₃and thereby positioned, the cassette stage 6 is moved to a positionslightly below the cassette loading position P₃, and a step G₁ is formedbetween the lower surfaces 1d, 2d of these small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 and the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6.

Therefore, with the small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 loaded to thecassette loading position P₃, by an amount corresponding to the step G₁,the cassette pressing lever 35 pivots further in the arrow g directionagainst the resistance of the cassette pressing springs 37, and thecassette pressing force exerted thereby increases further.

Thus, not only do the cassette pressing parts 13, 14 respectivelyoptimally press the reel center vicinity positions P₁₁₁, P₁₁₂ of thetape cassettes 1, 2, which are positions near the centers of gravity inthe front-rear direction of the tape cassettes 1, 2, as described above,but also the cassette pressing force exerted by the left-right pair ofcassette pressing springs 37 is increased after the tape cassettes 1, 2are loaded into the cassette loading position P₃, and as a result thesesmall and large tape cassettes 1, 2 are firmly pressed in the arrow bdirection and positioned with extremely good stability in the cassetteloading position P₃.

Description of Cassette Ejecting Mechanism

Next, on the basis of FIG. 3 through FIG. 14, the operation of thecassette ejecting mechanism 16 will be explained.

First, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 13, when the small and large tapecassettes 1, 2 are selectively inserted horizontally in the arrow adirection as far as the insertion reference position P₀ inside thecassette stage 6, the cassette ejecting projections 43a of theleft-right pair of cassette ejecting levers 43 are pushed in the arrow adirection by the front ends 1a, 2a of these small and large tapecassettes 1, 2, and these cassette ejecting levers 43 are driven topivot in the arrow i direction about the left-right pair of support pins47 from an original position shown with broken lines in FIG. 4 to anejection operation starting position shown with solid lines in FIG. 4and FIG. 13.

After this, as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, by the cassettestage 6 these small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 are loaded in thearrow a, b directions from the cassette insertion position P₁ via thecassette pulling in position P₂ to the cassette loading position P₃, butwhile the cassette stage 6 is pulled in horizontally in the arrow adirection from the cassette insertion position P₁ shown in FIG. 1A tothe cassette pulling in position P₂, the left-right pair of camfollowing levers 42 abut with the left-right pair of slide members 41 inthe arrow a direction and these cam following levers 42 pivot and yieldin the arrow h' direction about the support pins 45 against theresistance of the following lever springs 46 as shown with dotted linesin FIG. 3, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B and pass over the left-right pair ofslide members 41.

After that, these cam following levers 42 are pivoted in the arrow hdirection about the support pins 45 by the following lever springs 46 asfar as the ejection operation starting position shown with solid linesin FIG. 3, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B and, as shown in FIG. 7, theprojections 42a of these cam following levers 42 abut with theprojections 43b of the left-right pair of cassette ejecting levers 43 inthe arrow b direction.

When after recording and/or reproducing has been carried out on thesmall or large tape cassette 1, 2 in the cassette loading position P₃the tape cassette 1, 2 is ejected by the cassette stage 6 in the arrowb', a' directions from the cassette loading position P₃ shown withbroken lines in FIG. 3, FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B via the cassette pullingin position P₂ to the cassette insertion position P₁, and while thecassette stage 6 is moved horizontally in the arrow a' direction fromthe cassette pulling in position P₂ shown in FIG. 1A to the cassetteinsertion position P₁, the tape cassette 1, 2 is automatically ejectedin the cassette ejection direction (the arrow a' direction) from thecassette stage 6.

That is, while the cassette stage 6 is moved horizontally in the arrowa' direction, as shown in FIG. 10B and in FIG. 14, the lower ends of thecam following levers 42 abut with the cam surfaces 41a of -theleft-right pair of slide members 41 and by these slide members 41 thesecam following levers 42 are relatively moved back in the arrow adirection.

When this happens, these cam following levers 42 are driven to pivotabout the support pins 45 in the arrow h direction and, as shown in FIG.7, the projections 43b of the left-right pair of cassette ejectinglevers 43 are driven in the arrow h direction by the projections 42a ofthese cam following levers 42, and these cassette ejecting levers 43 areforcibly driven to pivot in the arrow i' direction about the supportpins 47 from the ejection operation starting position shown in FIG. 4and FIG. 12 with solid lines.

When this happens, as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B andFIG. 12, the front ends 1a, 2a of the small and large tape cassettes 1,2 are pushed in the arrow a' direction by these cassette ejectingprojections 43a, and these small and large tape cassettes 1, 2 areforcibly ejected in the cassette ejection direction (the arrow a'direction) from inside the cassette stage 6.

At this time, by the ejection stroke switching means 17 making use ofthe step of the thicknesses H₁, H₂ of the small and large tape cassettes1, 2 these ejection strokes S₁₁, S₁₂ are automatically switched andwhereas a small tape cassette 1 is ejected in the arrow a' directionthrough a large ejection stroke S₁₁, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, theejection stroke S₁₂ of a large tape cassette 2 is kept small, as shownin FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B and FIG. 12.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when a small tape cassette 1 is ejected,because the thickness H₁ thereof is small, the distance pivoted in thearrow g direction, which is upward, of the cassette pressing lever 35 inthe cassette pressing mechanism 16 described above is small, and becausethe support pins 45 of the cam following levers 42 rise only slightlywith respect to the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, the overlapamount OV₁₁ of the lower ends of these cam following levers 42 and theslide surfaces 41a of the slide members 41 becomes large.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10B, during ejection of a small tapecassette 1, the distance pivoted by the cam following levers 42 whendriven to pivot in the arrow h direction by the left-right pair of slidesurfaces 41a becomes large, and these left-right pair of cam followinglevers 42 drive the cassette ejecting levers 43 to pivot through a largeangle in the arrow i' direction from the ejection operation startingposition shown with solid lines in FIG. 4 to the original position shownwith broken lines. Consequently, the small tape cassette 1 ejectionstroke S₁₁ becomes large.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, during ejection ofa large tape cassette 2, because the thickness H₂ thereof is large, thedistance pivoted in the arrow g direction, which is upward, by thecassette pressing lever 35 in the cassette pressing mechanism 16described above is large, the support pins 45 of the cam followinglevers 42 are lifted to a high position with respect to the bottom plate6a of the cassette stage 6, and the overlap amount OV₁₂ of the lowerends of these cam following levers 42 with the cam surfaces 41a of theslide members 41 becomes small.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, during ejection of a large tape cassette1, the distance pivoted by the cam following levers 42 when driven topivot in the arrow h direction by the cam surfaces 41a becomes small,and these cam following levers 42 drive the cassette ejecting levers 43to pivot through a small angle in the arrow i' direction from theejection operation starting position shown with solid lines in FIG. 12to the ejection position shown with broken lines. Consequently, thelarge tape cassette 2 ejection stroke S₁₂ is kept small.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, when ejection of a small tape cassette 1has been completed, the rear end 1b of that small tape cassette 1projects in the arrow a' direction to outside the front panel 3 throughthe cassette insertion opening 4 by a large projection distance L₁, andafter completion of this ejection the rear end 1b of this small tapecassette 1 can be gripped by hand and easily taken out in the arrow a'direction to outside the front panel 3.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11A, FIG. 11B and FIG. 12, whenejection of a large tape cassette 2 has been completed, the projectiondistance L₅ of the rear end 2b of the large tape cassette 2 in the arrowd' direction to outside the front panel 3 through the cassette insertionopening 4 is kept smaller than in the related art, and risks such asthat of the rear end 2b accidentally colliding with and injuring a handor a body of an operator or the large tape cassette 2 accidentallydropping out of the apparatus are avoided.

Description of Operation of Pressing Force Changing Means

Next, on the basis of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 10A, the operation of thepressing force changing means 15 as it relates to a small tape cassette1 will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, during loading of a small tape cassette 1, asdescribed above, the cassette pressing force F₁ exerted by theleft-right pair of cassette pressing springs 37 when that small tapecassette 1 is inserted horizontally into the cassette stage 6 throughthe cassette insertion opening 4 in the arrow a direction and by theleft-right pair of cassette pressing parts 13 of the cassette pressingmechanism 11 that small tape cassette 1 is pressed onto the bottom plate6a of the cassette stage 6 in the arrow g' direction is set to a strongvalue.

On the other hand, as described above, when during ejection of a smalltape cassette 1 the small tape cassette 1 is ejected from the cassettestage 6 by the cassette ejecting mechanism 16 in the arrow a direction,the cassette pressing force exerted by the above-mentioned cassettepressing springs 37 is changed over to a weak value F₂.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, during ejection of a small tape cassette1 in the arrow a' direction, the lower ends of the cam following levers42 reach the cam surfaces 41a, which are slide surfaces, after slidingup the sloping surfaces 51 of the left-right pair of cams 41, which areslide members, in the arrow a' direction, and during this time these camfollowing levers 42 are driven to pivot in the arrow h direction and asdescribed with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 the small tape cassette 1is ejected from inside the cassette stage 6 in the arrow a' direction bythe cassette ejecting levers 43.

Part-way through this ejection of the small tape cassette 1 there is apoint at which a cassette ejecting load due to the cassette pressingforce F₁ exerted by the cassette pressing springs 37 and the drivingforce of the cassette ejecting levers 43 in the arrow i' directionbalance and pivoting of the cam following levers 42 in the arrow hdirection stops.

When this happens, due to the left-right pair of sloping surfaces 51 athrust force F₃ acting diagonally upward, which is a normal directionwith respect to the sloping surfaces 51, acts on the cam followinglevers 42, and due to that thrust force F₃ an arrow h direction turningmoment M on the cassette pressing lever 35 about the support pins 36arises. This turning moment M is M=F₃ ×r.

As a result of this turning moment M acting on the cassette pressinglever 35 the cassette pressing force exerted by the cassette pressingsprings 37 is changed over from the strong value F₁ to the weak valueF₂.

At the instant the cassette pressing force is weakened to F₂, thecassette ejecting levers 43 are smoothly driven to pivot by theleft-right pair of cam following levers 42 in the arrow i' direction asfar as the original position shown with broken lines in FIG. 4, and thesmall tape cassette 1 is smoothly ejected from inside the cassette stage6 in the arrow a' direction through the ejection stroke S₁₁.

At this time, the left-right pair of cassette ejecting levers 43 arecertainly driven to pivot in the arrow i' direction to the originalposition where their cassette ejecting projections 43a abut with thecassette ejection stoppers 50 of the bottom plate 6a of the cassettestage 6 and are thereby stopped, and the small tape cassette 1 is alwaysstably and correctly ejected from inside the cassette stage 6 throughthe ejection stroke S₁₁.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above, butthe invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment describedabove, and various changes are possible on the basis of thetechnological concept of the invention.

For example, the invention is not limited to a video cassette recorder,and can be applied to cassette type recording and reproducingapparatuses of other kinds.

A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus of the inventionconstructed as described above provides the following benefits.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe first aspect of the invention, it is possible to hold tape cassettesof a plurality of types whose sizes differ with a cassette stage withgood stability and certainly and carry out cassette loading and ejectingoperations between a cassette insertion position and a cassette loadingposition with good stability and effectively prevent cassette loadingerrors.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to use a complicated mechanism whichforcibly pulls in a tape cassette to a cassette stage disposed in aposition far back from a cassette insertion opening using cassettepressing rollers or the like rotationally driven by a motor, thestructure is simple and low cost and it is possible to make the overallcassette loading mechanism compact.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe second aspect of the invention, because when the cassettediscriminating member is pushed and caused to pivot by a large tapecassette slightly in the cassette insertion direction against theresistance of the second urging means the cassette insertion guide canbe pivoted and removed to outside the cassette insertion spaceimmediately by the first urging means, the overall space in the cassetteinsertion direction occupied by the cassette insertion guide and thecassette discriminating member can be made much smaller and insertion alarge tape cassette into the cassette stage of can be carried outsmoothly.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe third aspect of the invention, because the cassette insertion guideis disposed oriented in a direction perpendicular to the cassetteinsertion direction and small tape cassette insertion guide surfaces areformed on both sides of the center of the cassette insertion guide andcassette stopper surfaces for preventing small tape cassettes from beingmis-inserted are provided on both sides of the small tape cassetteinsertion guide surfaces and cassette discriminating members areprovided at both ends of the cassette insertion opening, it is possibleto guide a small tape cassette certainly to the center of the cassettestage and reliably prevent a small tape cassette from being mis-insertedto an off-center position to the right or the left of the center of thecassette stage.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe fourth aspect of the invention, because a cassette discriminatingpart of the cassette discriminating member is disposed inside thecassette insertion opening, cassette type discrimination can be carriedout just by inserting a large tape cassette slightly into the cassetteinsertion opening.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe fifth aspect of the invention, because the ejection stroke of thecassette ejecting mechanism is switched by ejection stroke switchingmeans utilizing a difference in the thicknesses of the tape cassettesand the ejection stroke of the small tape cassette is made large and theejection stroke of the large tape cassette is made small, the distanceby which the rear end of a small tape cassette projects to outside thefront panel on completion of ejection of the small tape cassette can bemade large so that thereafter the rear end of the small tape cassettecan be easily gripped by hand and the tape cassette can be easilyremoved from the apparatus. On completion of ejection of a large tapecassette, on the other hand, the distance by which the rear end of thelarge tape cassette projects to outside the front panel is not too greatand it is possible to avoid risks such as that of the rear end of thelarge tape cassette projecting to outside the front panel accidentallystriking and injuring the hand or body of a user or of the cassetteloading mechanism breaking or of the large tape cassette accidentallyfalling out of the cassette insertion opening, and safety is therebyincreased.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe sixth aspect of the invention, because on cassette ejection theamount by which the cassette ejecting lever is driven by the followinglever is changed in correspondence with a change in the amount ofoverlap of the cam following lever with respect to the slide membercaused by a difference in the thicknesses of tape cassettes of aplurality of types and the ejection stroke of a small tape cassette ismade large and thereby the ejection stroke of a large tape cassette ismade small, it is not necessary to for example provide two cassetteejecting mechanisms each operating independently according to thethickness of the tape cassette being ejected and it is possible toswitch the ejection stroke using the same ejecting lever, andsimplification of the construction and cost reduction made possible byreducing the number of parts and assembly labor can be realized.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe ninth aspect of the invention, because when the tape cassette isloaded by the cassette stage from the cassette insertion position to thecassette loading position the cassette pressing force exerted by thecassette pressing mechanism is increased by the pressing force changingmeans to prevent the tape cassette from slipping out of position on thecassette stage, it is possible to load the tape cassette correctly andfirmly into the cassette loading position. Therefore, tape cassetteloading errors can be prevented and the travel of the magnetic tape doesnot become unstable due to vibration caused by outside disturbances andthe like during recording or reproducing and cause recording orreproducing errors, and it is possible to realize a cassette typerecording and reproducing apparatus whose performance is not readilyaffected by outside disturbances.

Also, because when the tape cassette is ejected by the cassette stagefrom the cassette loading position to the cassette insertion positionthe cassette pressing force exerted by the cassette pressing mechanismis decreased by the pressing force changing means and the tape cassettecan be smoothly and certainly ejected from the cassette stage through afixed distance by the cassette ejecting mechanism, when the tapecassette has been returned to the cassette insertion position the rearend of the tape cassette can be stably made to project by a fixeddistance to outside the front panel and the tape cassette can be easilygripped by hand and taken out of the apparatus.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe tenth aspect of the invention, because a following lever driving acassette ejecting lever of the cassette ejecting mechanism to pivot ispivotally attached to the cassette pressing lever pivotally attached tothe cassette pressing mechanism and pressing force changing means ismade up of this following lever and a sloping surface formed on a slidemember mounted in a fixed position which relatively drives the followinglever to pivot, during cassette loading it is possible to create astrong cassette pressing force mainly by means of the cassette pressinglever independently of the pressing force changing means, and duringcassette ejecting, when the following lever mounts the sloping surfaceof the slide member, the following lever pushes up the cassette pressinglever and weakens the cassette pressing force exerted by the cassettepressing lever and the tape cassette can be smoothly and certainlyejected from the cassette stage through a fixed distance by the cassetteejecting lever. Also, because the following lever of the cassetteejecting mechanism is used to constitute the pressing force changingmeans, the construction is simple and a low cost cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus can be realized.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe eleventh aspect of the invention, because a cassette ejectionstopper for controlling the position at which the cassette ejectinglever stops in the cassette ejection direction is provided, the distancethrough which the tape cassette is ejected from the cassette stage canbe correctly kept to a fixed value and the operation of removing thetape cassette from the apparatus can always be carried out easily.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe fourteenth aspect of the invention, because the tape cassette ispressed by a cassette pressing part of an opening and closing coverattached to the cassette stage itself and opening and closing thecassette insertion opening in the front panel from the inner sidethereof, without using a complicated mechanism which forcibly pulls thetape cassette to the back of the cassette stage with a cassette pressingroller or the like it is possible to press the tape cassette in anoptimal position to the rear of the space through which the front coverof the tape cassette moves and consequently it is possible to press thereel center vicinity position of the tape cassette, which isapproximately the position of the center of gravity of the tapecassette, with good stability and a cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus whose performance is not readily affected byoutside disturbances can thereby be realized.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe fourteenth aspect of the invention, because it is not necessary touse a complicated mechanism for forcibly pulling the tape cassette tothe back of the cassette stage with cassette pressing rollers or thelike and furthermore it is possible to make the opening and closingcover for opening and closing the cassette insertion opening in thefront panel from the inner side thereof double as cassette pressingmeans, it is possible to greatly reduce the number of parts and assemblylabor and it is possible to simplify and reduce the cost of theconstruction.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe fifteenth aspect of the invention, because a cassette pressing leveris provided pivotally attached to the cassette stage and an opening andclosing cover having a cassette pressing part is attached to thecassette pressing lever and the cassette pressing lever and the openingand closing cover are respectively urged by urging means to pivot in acassette pressing direction and a cover closing direction, the operationof closing the cassette insertion opening and the operation of pressingthe cassette can each be carried out smoothly and unforcedly, and it ispossible to realize a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatusof high quality.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe sixteenth aspect of the invention, because pivoting of the cassettepressing lever in the cassette pressing direction is limited by astopper, it is possible to stabilize the closed position in which theopening and closing cover closes the cassette insertion opening andinsertion of the tape cassette into the cassette stage through thecassette insertion opening can be carried out smoothly.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according to aseventeenth aspect of the invention using tape cassettes of a pluralityof types whose sizes differ, because without using a complicatedmechanism for forcibly pulling the tape cassette to the back of thecassette stage with cassette pressing rollers or the like it is possibleto optimally press reel center vicinity positions of tape cassettes of aplurality of types whose sizes differ selectively inserted into thecassette stage by means of a plurality of types of cassette pressingparts attached to the cassette stage, it is possible to press positionsin the vicinities of the reel centers, which are approximately thefront-rear direction positions of the centers of gravity, which alsodiffer due to the size differences, of the tape cassettes of a pluralityof types with good stability and optimally and it is possible to realizea cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus whose performance isnot readily affected by outside disturbances.

Also, because it is not necessary to use a complicated mechanism forforcibly pulling the tape cassette to the back of the cassette stagewith cassette pressing rollers or the like it is possible to greatlyreduce the number of parts and assembly labor and realize simplificationand cost reduction of the construction.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe eighteenth aspect of the invention, because the cassette pressingparts of two types are provided on one cassette pressing member attachedto the cassette stage, it is possible to further reduce the number ofparts and assembly labor and promote simplification and cost reductionof the construction.

With a cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according tothe nineteenth aspect of the invention, because the cassette pressingmember doubles as an opening and closing cover attached to the cassettestage for opening and closing a cassette insertion opening in a frontpanel from the inner side thereof, it is possible to use a single partfor the opening and closing cover, the cassette pressing member and aplurality of types of cassette pressing parts, and furthersimplification and cost reduction of the construction can therefore beachieved.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cassette type recording and reproducingapparatus comprising:a front panel provided with a cassette insertionopening; a cassette stage reciprocated between a cassette insertionposition where a tape cassette is inserted into said cassette stagethrough said cassette insertion opening and a cassette loading positionwhere recording and reproducing are carried out on said tape cassette;cassette pressing means mounted on said cassette stage for pressing saidtape cassette; a cassette ejecting mechanism mounted on said cassettestage for when said cassette stage is ejected from said cassette loadingposition to said cassette insertion position ejecting said tape cassettefrom said cassette stage in a cassette ejection direction; and pressingforce changing means for increasing a cassette pressing force exerted bysaid cassette pressing means when said cassette stage is loaded fromsaid cassette insertion position to said cassette loading position anddecreasing said cassette pressing force exerted by said cassettepressing means when said cassette stage is ejected from said cassetteloading position to said cassette insertion position.
 2. A cassette typerecording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidcassette pressing means comprises a cassette pressing lever pivotallyattached to said cassette stage, said cassette ejecting mechanismcomprises a slide member mounted in a fixed position, a following leverpivotally attached to said cassette pressing lever and relatively drivento pivot by said slide member, and a cassette ejecting lever pivotallyattached to said cassette stage and driven to pivot by said followinglever, and said pressing force changing means comprises said followinglever and a sloping surface formed on said slide member.
 3. A cassettetype recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising a cassette ejection stopper mounted on said cassette stagefor stopping said cassette ejecting lever in a fixed position in saidcassette ejection direction.
 4. A cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said slide member isa cam of which a face making contact with said following lever having asloping surface sloping downward in a cassette insertion direction.
 5. Acassette type recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein said slide member is a roller having a circumferential facemaking contact with said following lever.
 6. A cassette type recordingand reproducing apparatus comprising:a front panel provided with acassette insertion opening; a cassette stage reciprocated between acassette insertion position where a tape cassette is inserted into saidcassette stage through said cassette insertion opening and a cassetteloading position where recording and reproducing are carried out on saidtape cassette; an opening and closing cover attached to said cassettestage and closing said cassette insertion opening from an inner sidethereof when said cassette stage is in said cassette insertion positionand opened by said tape cassette as said tape cassette is inserted intosaid cassette stage through said cassette insertion opening; urgingmeans for urging said opening and closing cover to pivot closed; and acassette pressing part provided on said opening and closing cover forpressing said tape cassette.
 7. A cassette type recording andreproducing apparatus comprising:a front panel provided with a cassetteinsertion opening; a cassette stage reciprocated between a cassetteinsertion position where a tape cassette is inserted into said cassettestage through said cassette insertion opening and a cassette loadingposition where recording and reproducing are carried out on said tapecassette; a cassette pressing lever pivotally attached to said cassettestage; an opening and closing cover of inwardly opening type pivotallyattached to said cassette pressing lever and closing said cassetteinsertion opening from an inner side thereof when said cassette stage isin said cassette insertion position and opened by said tape cassette assaid tape cassette is inserted into said cassette stage through saidcassette insertion opening; urging means for urging said cassettepressing lever to pivot in a cassette pressing direction; urging meansfor urging said opening and closing cover to close; and a cassettepressing part provided on said opening and closing cover for pressingsaid tape cassette inserted into said cassette stage.
 8. A cassette typerecording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 7, furthercomprising a stopper mounted on said cassette stage for limitingpivoting of said cassette pressing lever in said cassette pressingdirection.